By Brad Hallier
Senior Brody Ummel continued his strong senior season for the Hutchinson High bowling team on Wednesday, finishing with a 749 series Wednesday at The Alley in Hutchinson.
Ummel’s performance helped the Salthawk boys beat Andover 2,422-2,281.
Jacob Bofink finished third in the dual.
On the girls side, the Salthawks also beat Andover 1,847-1,738. Sam Holcomb led Hutchinson with a second-place finish, scoring a 490 series. Teammate Maddie Rayl was third with a 447.
Boys basketball – Hutchinson continued its march toward home-court advantage throughout substate on Tuesday by routing Eisenhower 70-54 in Goddard.
Jax Heneha led the Salthawks with 26 points, including 16 in the first half that saw the Salthawks lead 36-18 at the break.
After a mini-slide that saw the Salthawks lose two out of three games, they have won three in a row and are now 12-3 with five games remaining in the regular season. They are tied for the No. 3 seed with Andover in the Class 5A West Substate standings. The top four teams clinch home-court advantage throughout substate. Great Bend is currently No. 5 and is 1 1/2 games behind Hutchinson and Andover, and the Salthawks have beaten Great Bend.
Girls basketball – The Salthawks turned out another great defensive effort Tuesday at Eisenhower, holding their 11th opponent this season to less than 45 points in a 37-31 win.
Kaia Smith led Hutchinson with 13 points.
The Salthawks improved to 9-5 headed to Thursday’s one-off make-up game with Derby. That places the Salthawks eighth in the 5A West Substate standings. The top eight teams earn a first-round home game.
Wrestling – Regional tournaments get started this week, with the boys team heading to Arkansas City for a two-day Class 5A regional on Friday, and the girls going to Junction City for a one-day Class 6-5A regional.
The boys’ regional will be stocked. The Salthawks, ranked No. 10, are one of eight teams in the top 10 competing in the regional, along with No. 1 Goddard, No. 4 Andover, No. 5 Valley Center, No. 6 Newton, No. 7 Great Bend, No. 8 Salina Central and No. 9 Bishop Carroll.
The Salthawks will take four ranked wrestlers, including freshman Cruz Cannon (fourth at 106 pounds), freshman Max Harris (fourth at 144), junior Kade Smith (first at 157) and senior Camden Jensen (second at 285).
The girls will see three ranked teams in their regional, including No. 5 Manhattan, No. 8 Washburn Rural and No. 9 Junction City.
Boys swimming – After taking more than a week off, the Salthawks will return to the pool at the AVCTL meet on Saturday at Salina South. After that, the Salthawks will prepare for the state meet, which starts on Feb. 16 in Topeka.
